This invention relates to sanitary systems, in particular, conventional flush and portable toilets.
Toilets fall into two main categories: flush toilets that use water to carry away liquid and solid waste immediately and portable toilets, not connected directly to a sewage system, that store liquid and solid waste until they can be emptied into a sewer. This invention is an application that can be used for both categories of toilets and will improve toilet odor control for either type.
There are certain chemical toilet systems that use added chemicals to control odor and patented devices that use electrical energy to control biotic growth and odor. The present invention relies on generating negatively charged ions that descend into the toilet bowl to counteract the odor-carrying effect of positively charged ions associated with liquid and solid wastes. Positive and Negative Electric Chargesxe2x80x94A neutral atom or group of atoms becomes ionized by gaining or losing one or more electrons. The charge of an ion is always expressed as a whole number of unit charges and is either positive or negative. A simple ion consists of only one charged atom; a complex ion consists of an aggregate of atoms with a net charge. If an atom or group loses electrons it will have a net positive charge and is called a cation. If an atom or group gains electrons, it will have a net negative charge and is called an anion.
Since ordinary matter is electrically neutral, ions normally exist as groups of cations and anions such that the sum total of positive and negative charges is zero. Cations can be formed from a metal by oxidation (see oxidation and reduction), from a neutral base (see acids and bases) by protonation, or from a polar compound by ionization. Anions can be formed from nonmetals by reduction (see oxidation and reduction) or from neutral acids (see acids and bases) or polar compounds by ionization.
Oxidation and Reductionxe2x80x94complementary chemical reactions characterized by the loss or gain, respectively, of one or more electrons by an atom or molecule. Originally the term oxidation was used to refer to a reaction in which oxygen combined with an element or compound, e.g., the reaction of magnesium with oxygen to form magnesium oxide or the combination of carbon monoxide with oxygen to form carbon dioxide. Similarly, reduction referred to a decrease in the amount of oxygen in a substance or its complete removal, e.g., the reaction of cupric oxide and hydrogen to form copper and water.
When an atom or molecule combines with oxygen, it tends to give up electrons to the oxygen in forming a chemical bond. Similarly, when it loses oxygen, it tends to gain electrons. Such changes are now described in terms of changes in the oxidation number, or oxidation state, of the atom or molecule. Thus oxidation has come to be defined as a loss of electrons or an increase in oxidation number, while reduction is defined as a gain of electrons or a decrease in oxidation number, whether or not oxygen itself is actually involved in the reaction.
Oxidation-reduction reactions, called also redox reactions, are most simply balanced in the form of chemical equations by arranging the quantities of the substances involved so that the number of electrons lost by one substance is equaled by the number gained by another substance. In such reactions, the substance losing electrons (undergoing oxidation) is said to be an electron donor, or reductants, since its lost electrons are given to and reduce the other substance. Conversely, the substance that is gaining electrons (undergoing reduction) is said to be an electron acceptor, or oxidant. Ionization of Neutral Atomsxe2x80x94Ionization can also be caused by the bombardment of matter with high-speed particles or other radiation. Ultraviolet radiation and low-energy X-rays excite molecules in the upper atmosphere sufficiently to cause them to lose electrons and become ionized, giving rise to several different layers of ions in the earth""s atmosphere. A gas can be ionized by passing an electron current through it; the ionized gas then permits the passage of a much higher current. Heating to high temperatures also ionizes substances; certain salts yield ions in their melts as they do in solution.
Negatively-charged negative ions attach themselves to contaminates and allergens, which are positively-charged. The newly-formed larger particles fall to the ground, and out of the air we breathe. Applications of Ionizationxe2x80x94Ionization has many applications. In ion-exchange reactions, a specially prepared insoluble resin with attached dissociable ions is packed into a column. When a solution is passed through the column, ions from the solution are exchanged with ions on the resin. Water softeners use the mineral zeolite, a natural ion-exchange resin; sodium ions from the zeolite are exchanged for metal ions from the insoluble salt that makes the water hard, converting it to a soluble salt.
Odor-carrying gases include hydrogen, which is a natural by-product of bacterial action. By dousing positively-charged hydrogen gas generated within a toilet with a negatively charged gas, odor control can be improved.
In a generator that produces negatively-charged ions, the main circuit is high-voltage, either ac or dc. The high-voltage lead of this device is connected to a high-voltage diode, which permits a negative voltage to pass to a small capacitor bank. This negative high voltage is then connected to a conductive object that has or comes to a sharp point. The sharp point enhances the discharge of negative ions into the surrounding atmosphere.
The advantages of mixing negatively-charged ions with the gases in a toilet bowl will be readily apparent by referring to the detailed description that follows, accompanied by the drawings.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved odor-control system for conventional and portable toilets.
It is a further object of the present invention to control said odors with electrical means, including battery-operated ion generation.
It is a further object of the present invention to make the invention compatible with existing toilet and toilet seat design.
It is a further object of the present invention to keep the cost to the consumer for this invention as low as possible.